


A Light in the Darkness

by 091304



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blind Jack, Character Death, Family Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Physical Abuse, Pre-Rise of the Guardians (2012), nothing major for physical abuse though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-14
Updated: 2014-10-14
Packaged: 2018-02-21 05:12:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2456021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/091304/pseuds/091304
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack awakens from the lake blind and finds a little girl that claims to be his little sister. She makes it her job to recover his memories</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Light in the Darkness

**Author's Note:**

> fill for the kink meme

“Jack Frost.”  
  
That’s what the boy had first heard through the darkness that surrounded him. It was a beacon of hope for the newborn spirit. Searching for the one that had called him, he stepped forward only to touch something wooden. Frost spread onto his toes and the boy let out a surprised gasp. He bent down to touch the wondrous device, marveling in the texture of it against his finger tips.  
  
His fingers maneuvered all around the device that produced a beautifully chilly substance on him. Upon reaching the top of it, he felt it stop and curve into a sort of half circle. He wasn’t too sure of the point of it, but he thought this device would help him get around in the dark much better.  
  
So the boy was up on his feet again and fearlessly took a step forward. There wasn’t anything there except for ice, more and more ice. He sped up and dragged his device behind himself, twirling and hopping around like a snowflake caught in the wind. With a bright smile and a breathless laugh, he danced upon the ice spreading frost designs in his wake.  
  
Just then with the device in his hand, he pulled it up into the air and the wind rushed around him to lift him off the ice. Panic was left in the boy opposed to fun. The wind must have sensed this feeling as it soon lowered the boy onto the branch of a tree.  
  
His body wrapped around it for once feeling fear though it was gone as quick as it came. When he noticed how similar the texture of his device and what he was gripping onto was, his fingers stretched far and wide upon it. He waited for the beautifully chilly substance to touch him back, thinking this one was similar to his device, but it did nothing.  
  
The boy pulled back and hit the trunk of the tree. He spread his fingers up on it, lifting himself up on the branch to keep reaching higher and higher. His fingers never found an end point so he walked on the branch to find it’s ending. The wind pushed him up straight whenever he swayed more to one side.  
  
The tip of the branch broke under his weight and the wind scooped him up before he hit the ground. This time the boy didn’t feel fear but excitement as he flew through the air. When he heard people talking and a wonderful yet familiar tune, he directed his device towards it’s source and so the wind obeyed his command, heading for the nearest village.  
  
The wind lowered the boy towards the ground and in his excitement, he hit the snowy ground face first. He laughed as he lifted himself up and walked a few steps unstably only to hit the ground once more. This time the wind helped him up and brushed the snow off his cape.  
  
The boy walked forward in glee, taking in all the sounds, scents and feelings. This place was so different yet similar to the ice he awoke on. It felt pleasant being surrounded by so much lively commotion.  
  
“Hello!” The boy bowed his head slightly when he heard someone walk by him. He continued further into the village near the warmth he felt.  
  
“Excuse me. Can you tell me where I a-” He was cut off when someone walked right through him. It was a horrible painful sensation that filled him with fear.  
  
“H-hello?” He reached a hand out trying to get someone’s attention, but instead of feeling something solid, the painful sensation returned which only scared him further.  
  
Why couldn’t they hear or see him? Why couldn’t he touch them? The questions raced through his mind as he backed away from the people giving him this painful feeling until he hit against a wall. The boy slid down to the ground and pulled his legs up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them in sobs.  
  
“Jack?” A little girl called in a hopeful tone.  
  
The boy’s head flings upwards, feeling around for the one that had called him. He hears the little girl making her way closer to him, calling back to her through the tears. “H-hello? Can you h-help me?”  
  
The little girl shook slightly, slowly reaching forward to the boy. She placed her hand inches from his body, ever so hesitant to actually touch him, fully expecting him to just disappear on touch. He realizes how close she is and doesn’t want to touch her in fear of feeling the pain once again. That’s when a tough wind shoved the little girl forward and both children gasp upon the touch.  
  
“You’re real...” She starts crying now and he can’t stand the sound of it. The little girl leans into him and wraps her tiny arms around him tightly. He gasps at the sudden contact again. It’s so warm and not full of pain.  
  
The boy’s arms wrapped around the little girl, pulling her close and never letting go. Even when worried people came by to check on her and bring her home, he never let her go with them. He didn’t want the only person who acknowledged him and never gave him pain to leave forever, so he clung to her for the rest of the night and she returned his embrace.  
  
They stayed like that for a good hour or so when the warmth disappeared and the voices slowly went away. He wondered what was going on when the little girl finally broke the contact. It was returned immediately when she wrapped her hand around his.  
  
“Let’s go home. Mother and father will be so happy!” The little girl bounced in her excitement which he couldn’t help but laugh at. She was so excited and that made him happy. He didn’t know what a mother or a father was, but if it was something his new friend wanted to show him, he had no objections.  
  
“Okay. Lead the way.” Pushing against his device, he got to his feet. The little girl nodded and the two walked back to the little girls home.  
  
“Jack, why do your eyes look... weird? And the colour of them changed. Your hair too.” She pointed out on their way.  
  
“Did we know each other before now?” That’s when the little girl stopped.  
  
“You... don’t remember me? It’s your sister, Emma!” She was right, he didn’t remember. So he shook his head ‘no’ and could practically hear her face drop all of it’s happiness.  
  
“Hey, weren’t you gonna show me these mother and father things?” The boy tried to change the subject, but it only upset her further. She muttered something about “they’ll know what to do” and pulled him to the house.  
  
It was barely a few minutes after arriving and the boy heard everything that happened. Everyone was a mess from crying for this “Jack” person. The mother and the father couldn’t see him and called him an illusion. There was too much sadness in one room and it was suffocating him. He needed to get out and return to the ice where it was fun again. So he ran from the house with the assistance of the wind, hearing “Jack! Don’t go!” and “Calm down, Emma. He’s not real.”  
  
The words stung him like a dagger piercing his heart.  
  


* * *

  
It was the next day in the late afternoon when the two children met again. The little girl-— Emma-— he remembered, let out a cry when she first seen him. He was sitting in the middle of the ice, marveling at the coldness of it once more.  
  
“Y-You’re gonna fall again! It’s not s-safe!” She called, falling apart to the ground. She couldn’t watch this horrible scene again.  
  
The boy got up to his feet, making his way off the ice and over to her. Once he hit against her with his device, he bent down beside the little girl. “It’s okay. The wind helps me.”  
  
At this her head rose to look at him in confusion. “The wind?” She mimicked.  
  
He nodded and the wind blew around him, hovering him a bit off the ground. She let out a gasp with a hand hovering over her mouth.  
  
“You’re like an angel!” She exclaimed, eyes wide with surprise.  
  
The wind placed the boy on the ground once more and circled around the pair. He shook his head, unsure of what an angel was, but it seemed like a praise for him rather than the one who was really doing it. “No, that was the wind.”  
  
Realizing the little girl still must be confusing him for the other Jack she knew, he thought now was a good time to introduce himself. So with a smile upon his face, he bowed to her. “I’m Jack Frost. I bring this cold substance.” His toes wiggled in the snow surrounding them.  
  
The little girl stared at him for awhile and soon got up on her feet again. With a smile similar to the one on the others face, she curtsied. ”My name is Emma Overland. I’m your sister.”  
  
Jack pondered over what a sister was when she suddenly giggled. He absoluetly loved that sound. “And that's snow!”  
  
“It has a name?” He never realized that other things had names. Were they named the same way he was? He needed to learn all of their names! “What about this?” He leaned the device in his hand out for her to see.  
  
“That's the shepherds crook father gave you. You called it a staff.”  
  
“A staff.” His fingers roamed around it again in awe once more over his device-- his staff. He backed up onto the ice this time. “What about this?”  
  
“That’s ice. It’s the pond that you...” Emma trailed off, obviously uncomfortable. So Jack went back to her and his hands reached to her arms, lowering them down to stop at her hands. He intertwined their fingers, smiling brightly. “Thank you!”  
  
It's not that he didn't remember her or their family, he didn't remember anything. And it was up to Emma to help him.  
  


* * *

  
With the loss of the Jack that belonged to Emma's mother and father, the two adults grew depressed and had a difficult time gathering food among other things. Whenever the father would bring back little to no food, the father would yell and grumble all the time. A few times the mother tried to calm him down, but it ended with her in tears. Jack didn't like listening to them yelling and crying. It didn't suit the pair at all; He thought them laughing and having fun was so much better.  
  
It wasn't until Emma came running to him in tears one night that he decided to do something about the both of them. She snuck out to get his help and that's exactly what he would do. "Please, Jack! Father is hurting mother! You have to do something!" Were her words and the wind directed him towards the home of her mother and father while she was following slowly behind.  
  
Jack was the first to make it to the house and heard the fighting still going on. All the screaming, terror and agonizing pain. He hated it. So with the help of the wind, he led the two adults outside into the snow and knocked the father out with icy snowballs. The mother went right to the fathers side as soon as he fell.  
  
When Emma finally arrived, Jack went to her to speak away from her mother. He asked her many questions which eventually led to learning that Emma, her mother and father weren't eating much and needed help getting food. They made an agreement that if her father ever started hurting anyone again, all she had to do was call out his full name so the wind would hear and he would drop everything and come running to save her.  
  
Jack left after that and returned a few hours later, hauling a deer over with the help of the wind. The wind slipped through one of the windows and ran around Emma to get her attention. She rushed to the door and seen her big brother there with food for her mother to make and quietly thanked him. She ran to get her mother and when they arrived back at the door, the look on her face was utter shock. She took it as a miracle and thanked the lord, whoever that was, but Jack still bowed anyway.  
  
They had a wonderful dinner that night despite the pain that happened. Whenever Emma's father would go out hunting, Jack would follow and assist him in captures so they would get more to eat. It took time, but eventually the father would grow confident again and stop yelling, instead replacing it with laughter. Both the mother and father apologized for their behavior and moved on from this dark time in their life. Jack found peace in that.  
  


* * *

  
Spring had been a cold one that year in the village and it was starting to become Summer already. Emma was rushing for the pond to meet with her elder brother to decide on which fun activities to do. She quickened her pace when she seen his head in the water.  
  
“Jack!” She shouted. Jack didn’t move though and that only made the little girl panic. She gripped onto his arm and struggled to pull him from the water.  
  
When she finally got him out, he didn’t move an inch. No one could see or hear him besides her so she couldn’t call for help. Instead she curled up around his body and cried.  
  
She cried for hours until a warm hand brushed against her face, stilling her tears for a moment. Her eyes flung open as she looked towards her now awake brother.  
  
“Are you alright, Emma? Did something bad happen again?”  
  
“I-I thought you w-were...” Her sobs overcame her voice and her body gave in. She leaned into him, crying harder.  
  
“Don’t worry. I’m fine.” His hand made it’s way to her back and up to her head, slowly rubbing in circles.  
  
After awhile of calming her down, she finally moved back to give him some space. His hand hit her leg so he moved it towards her side, trying to find her arm.  
  
Emma watched him until she finally voiced her worry. “Why do you always do that?”  
  
“I can’t see you.” Came his response.  
  
“Can’t see me?”  
  
“All I see is darkness.”  
  
It never hit her that Jack was blind. He had been acting weird ever since they first met again. Emma had never seen someone who was blind before, only heard other people in her village praying that their children weren't born blind. She asked mother and father about it one time and they described it to her as best as they could. When they were younger, there was a blind child living in the village and one day the child just disappeared, never to be seen again.  
  
"Is it scary?" Her eyes went down as she gripped onto her dress. She didn't want him to disappear.  
  
Jack finally found Emma's hands and slowly coaxed her into releasing the grip on her dress. He intertwined their fingers together which made her look up to his face, noticing the bright smile planted upon it.  
  
"At first." He began as he rubbed circles around her thumb. "But after you found me, it's like I can see all kinds of things. You're like my eyes."  
  
He could hear a gasp after he said that, like she was in awe. It was a wonderful moment that he wanted to last forever, but it couldn't. He knew he would be breaking her heart with his next words.  
  
"Emma, I need to go now." He felt her squeeze his hand tightly.  
  
"Why?!" So he pulled her hand to his face, hearing another gasp soon afterwards. "You're really hot! Are you sick?"  
  
He nodded. "I need to go somewhere cooler."  
  
But she shook her head. "I'll take care of you."  
  
"Emma."  
  
"I can do it! You'll feel better in no time!"  
  
"Emma."  
  
"Please don't leave me alone again." She pleaded.  
  
"I won't. I'll come back as fast as I can."  
  
"Promise?"  
  
"I promise."  
  
With tears in her eyes, they said their farewells. Months passed and it became Fall. A cold Fall. The two children hugged each other upon Jack's return, tears filling both of their eyes. They held their embrace until the sun set. Emma got a cold that night.  
  


* * *

  
Everyday in Winter Jack tried to get Emma, the little girl he'd grown accustom to calling his baby sister, to ice skate on his pond. Today was no different from the last; He would get her to skate as if their lives depended on it. He didn't understand why she was so frightened by the idea. Ever since he was born, he would dance on the ice and it filled him with so much joy. That's when he got an idea: he'll dance for her!  
  
So he waited in front of their home for the Overland's to wake up. When he heard the sweet voice of his sister alongside his mother and father, he immediately got up and dragged his hand against the walls of the house to stop at the window, beautiful frost patterns forming on it. Emma gasped and ran over to the window with a bright smile which made smiles form on the faces of her parents soon afterwards. They were glad to see she wasn't sad anymore and still retained her joy, especially around this time.  
  
"Mother, Father, may I go outside?" Emma requested as she turned to them with that bright smile still on her face. How could they say no?  
  
"Don't stay out too long. We don't want you getting a cold now." They didn't think her smile could get any bigger, but it had and it warmed their hearts on this cold day.  
  
"Thank you!" She put on her shoes and ran outside to meet with her brother. Jack led her through the town with bright smiles planted on their faces, though only outsiders of their little group would see one small girl smiling despite what had happened to her.  
  
It took awhile for them to get to the pond since Jack was leading. He spent weeks walking through the village trying to memorize exactly where everything was, but even he still had a difficult time maneuvering around by himself. He always had to pay close attention to the people to make sure no one walked through him and even then, someone always managed to do so.  
  
"What are we doing today?" Emma asked once they made it to the pond.  
  
"I wanted to show you something." He rushed towards one of the trees, hitting against it with his staff. "Oops." He laughed lightly as he realized he went the wrong way. So he left his arm out to touch each tree, following them until his feet touched ice to signal he was on his pond.  
  
"I told you I don't want to ice skate." She pouted, not that he could see it.  
  
"It's not that. Just watch, okay?" His tone was sweet and she was wary at first, but she knew he wouldn't lie.  
  
"... Okay." Emma walked closer to the pond and took a seat in the snow.  
  
Jack walked further onto the pond until he deemed it just right then he walked in a random direction, quickening his pace. He turned when his staff hit against one of the edges and started to run now, twirling on the ice. Frost patterns branched out and followed the movements of his staff as he did. Emma watched him in awe, wondering how he wasn't falling onto the ice or hitting into things or worse, breaking the ice.  
  
That's when he jumped into the air and twirled around, landing on his feet. It earned him a gasp from Emma so he continued, this time laughing alongside his version of a dance. After his performance, he heard Emma clapping so he followed the sound back to her. He collapsed to the ground with light laughter, trying to breathe at the same time.  
  
"Will you teach me how to do that?!" Emma grabs his hands, not noticing the smirk that crept up on his face after those words. It worked!  
  
"Sure." Was his cheerful response. Together they got to their feet and walked to the icy surface of the pond. Emma was hesitant upon reaching it and he could feel her hand shaking. Jack tried to lead her onto the surface with the utmost carefulness. He's tried so very hard to get her to play with him on his pond and only now has he finally succeeded.  
  
"Jack, I'm scared." The boy stopped once he heard that and a familiar pang reached his heart immediately after. Before he's even thinking about what to say, the words are already coming out of his mouth.  
  
"I know, I know... but you're gonna be alright." He reaches out for her other hand and intertwines their fingers once more, lightly squeezing them. Violent pangs reach her heart this time when she hears these words. She remembers this dreadful conversation as it's one they've had before at a time that still haunts her to this day.  
  
"You're not gonna fall in." He reassures her, but she knows how this whole conversation plays out until the very end. He might not remember, but it's always been stuck in her mind, bringing her endless nightmares. Suddenly a bright smile appears on his face. "We're gonna have a little fun instead."  
  
"No we're not!" The knot comes undone as she bursts out the next part. Her body is shaking as she tries to hold back her tears.  
  
But it's too late when he says the next part. "Would I trick you?" The tears were already falling down her face, her eyes tightened closed. She couldn't stop them, not when they've already started.  
  
"Yes! You always play tricks!" Her strained reply came, full of sorrowful tears and hiccups. She waited for his reply, but it never came. Instead of his next line, his arms wrapped around her in a tight embrace. As he pulled them close, she heard him crying too.  
  
His cold lips touched her cheek, giving her quick kisses. "I missed you so much." Her eyes flung open in confusion, only to meet his bright smile once more as it countered against his teary eyes. He was back.  
  


* * *

  
Emma Overland was known as the girl with a guardian angel. None of the other kids would mess with her, not after they seen and heard about some of her bullies getting a harsh treatment. They slipped on ice, had snowballs thrown at them, were locked in their house for days, the wind had them at a constant disarray wherever they went, at one point their family even had no food for a few days.  
  
It all started because she could see Jack. She would hold his hand or speak to him around people or laugh at random times to silly comments he made. Her parents thought this was just her way of coping with his death, but then it continued as she grew older. Her parents worried about her and tried to get her to stop her actions. Kids would whisper whenever she passed by them, calling her a freak or weirdo. They avoided her; No one wanted to be surrounded by someone that was crazy.  
  
That’s when the bullying started. Whenever she would get too close to someone, they would push her down and call her more bad names. It was all done in private so their parents wouldn’t see or hear them or else they would get in trouble. It wasn’t until Jack heard it happening around him that someone finally did something. Once he got rid of them, he scolded her about hiding something so important. Tears were shed and kisses were planted after that.  
  
It was all snowballs and fun times until Emma started getting popular because of the guardian angel rumors. That’s when boys who fancied her started interfering in their games to get her attention. Jack immediately threw a snowball full of ice at the boys who bothered them. When they continued to pester his sister, he made their days miserable.  
  
Emma would come home and tell her parents of how popular she’s gotten in the village, especially with the boys. They would be thrilled to hear such things as she was already becoming a lady. But when she found out about Jack bullying the ones that now had an interest in her, it was her turn to scold him. He was stubborn, but he finally agreed to stop scaring the daylights out of them.  
  
The boys who had once fancied her had grown terrified of her and avoided her out of fear of angering the guardian angel that set it’s eyes upon the girl. They wanted to live to see another day, not die while attempting to woo a girl. She scolded Jack again after finding this out, but he only laughed at the news. Emma was completely embarrassed and couldn’t handle him laughing at the current predicament he caused so she did the only thing she knew that would hurt him: She ignored him.  
  
Jack searched the whole village on the first day, listening out and calling for his sister as he worried for her safety, believing that something horrible had happened to her. The second day was when he realized what she was doing. He found her talking with one of the other girls in the village and tried to get her attention. When she didn’t respond to him, his fear grew rapidly, but quickly turned into anger when his hand didn’t pass through her.  
  
He called to her for a good 20 minutes until he yelled at her and stormed off. Later in the night he returned to their home, knocking on Emma’s window. She didn’t answer nor say a thing as Jack said he was sorry about before, never meaning his outburst and that he really missed her. Instead she sobbed silently, watching him leave to go back to the pond.  
  
The rest of the week was heartbreaking to the both of them. The two would frequently visit the others home but never said a thing. They would go home to cry; Jack wondering what he did wrong while Emma regretted her actions and missed speaking with her brother. This was how mother did it, she told herself every time she almost spoke to him.  
  
“Jack.” Emma called over from the safe haven of the ground as she watched his once fallen figure perk up at the sound of her voice. It was finally the end of this miserable week.  
  
“Emma?” His tone was of disbelief as he searched for the source of her voice. Emma gathered up her courage and planted one foot on the surface of the pond, leaning her weight on it to test if it was okay to walk on. When nothing happened, she planted her other foot on the surface this time and made her way closer to him.  
  
“I’m here.” His breathing quickened when she bent down to wrap her arms around him. Her arms were able to wrap around his body fully, he mentally noted. She was growing older, growing taller, growing more mature as he stayed the same in every aspect. He knew he wasn’t aging as it was something his sister loved to point out, how she'd eventually become the older sibling.  
  
He couldn’t hold a grudge against anyone, let alone the one he cared for the most in this world. It was useless for him to spend time being angry at someone when he could spend it having fun with them instead. The wind wrapped around them, shooting them up into the air. He felt his sister grip onto his clothes. “How does it look?” He questioned, holding onto his sister with equal force.  
  
A laugh left her lips as she observed the area. She could see their village, their home, the trees and the animals, the light from the sun that spread so far and wide. She loved it, the ability of flight. “Beautiful.” She whispered breathlessly.  
  
A smile crept up on his face after hearing those words. Even if he can’t see it himself, he’s sure his sisters words ring out the truth. “Let’s not fight again.”  
  
He feels the grip of one of her hands loosen and release, making it’s way to his face to wipe the tears from his eyes. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”  
  
They agreed that outsiders would never get in the way of their friendship ever again.  
  


* * *

  
“Mother, who are you talking to?” A small child asked.  
  
A smile formed on her face at the question. “Jack Frost.”  
  
“Who’s that?” The two children moved closer to their mother with awe on their faces.  
  
“He’s the one that brings the snow.” She pointed out with an all knowing expression on her face.  
  
“Really? I wanna speak with him too!” The children each held onto one side of their mothers hands with excitement. Their mother only smiled sadly for she didn’t know how they could speak with someone only she could see.  
  
Jack chuckled at the childrens response which caused them to turn around and gasp. The mother realized they too could see him so she nudged them forward, nodding when they looked back to her with hesitation. So they both walked up to him shyly.  
  
“H-Hello.” One of them spoke below him, but he didn’t react. The two children looked back to their mother, worrying they did something wrong to upset him. Their mother pointed to one of Jack’s hands and mimed to grab it with her own hands.  
  
And when they did, it was the mothers turn to chuckle. Jack was so surprised, he looked like he was ready to pass out from the touch. He dropped to one knee, a smile forming on his face. “Hey there, little ones.”  
  
“Your eyes are creepy, mister Jack Frost.” The younger one said as they touched his face which made him laugh. The elder child joined in on touching his face, he assumed to examine his eyes as well.  
  
“How about we play a little game?” He interrupted them, hearing excited gasps.  
  
The two children looked back to their mother with hopeful eyes, pleading with her to say yes. When she had, the two squealed and held onto Jack’s hands, pulling him towards the door.  
  
“Don’t go too far now you three.” She waved towards them with a sweet and soothing tone in her voice.  
  
“Don’t worry, Emma. I’ll be with them.” He laughed, finally letting the children pull him outside.  
  
“Let’s play hide and seek, mister Jack Frost!” The elder child shouted excitedly.  
  
“Hide and seek! Hide and seek!” The younger of the two joined in.  
  
“You got it! I’m an excellent seeker, by the way.” Jack bragged to them.  
  
“We’re excellent hiders! You’ll never find us!” And the two children were off.  
  
Days continued to be like this even as the two grew older. They always played with one another and sometimes tried to get their mother to join in on the games, but she was getting old in her age. Jack always gave Emma hugs, touched her face and held her hand. He could feel how much she’d grown, just like the many other times he checked. It made him smile. She had become the older sibling after all. Although he was never worried about her growing older, it wasn't until Death visited that he knew something was wrong.  
  
"Stay away from her!" A blast of icicles shot out in Death's direction. They didn't even need to dodge the attack for Jack wasn't completely aware of where the wind had even shot the ice to. None of the other adults or children could see this mysterious person so Jack took it upon himself to chase them away from their home. It's like they were invisible-- just like he was. "Wh-who are you?!" He yelled, stuttering.  
  
"I told you before, little spirit. My name is Death." Jack shot out another blast of icicles in the direction the voice came from. When he hadn't heard a thud or ice shattering, he went into a panic to search around for the invisible enemy.  
  
"You'd do best to not interfere with another spirits job." Came the voice from behind him which made Jack jump. He turned around to strike them again, only for his staff to get knocked out of his hands. Bones wrapped around both of his wrists tightly to limit his movements and the invisible enemy threatened him this time. "Unless you wish to have your limbs broken."  
  
Jack had frozen due to the panic, his breath coming out uneven and quick. He never realized he could be disarmed quite so quickly when this was the first time someone he didn't like could actually see him to fight back. This person-- no, this monster-- barely made a sound and it was frightening. He couldn't fight against someone like this. All he could do was stand there in fear. "A-are you going to k-kill me?"  
  
"You cannot die." The monster answered calmly.  
  
"Wh-what?" His voice changed to disbelief and surprise.  
  
"You're a spirit. An immortal." Explained the monster that went by the name of Death. The bones that wrapped around his wrists released him. Being the only thing that was holding him up after learning all these new things, he immediately fell to his knees. "Is this your first time meeting another spirit?"  
  
Jack didn't answer, but from the confusion that was placed upon his face, Death knew the answer. "You've already figured out what you are so I'm sure you've kept to your job of bringing Winter around the world. Now let me do mine, little spirit."  
  
"Y-You can't take h-her from me!" He tried to reach out for the monster to stop them in their tracks but missed every single time. "She's all I have left!"  
  
"For every beginning, an ending must follow. That is the way of all life." Death bent down in front of him and put their hand out which made Jack touch it, only for him to curl it back immediately. "Don't you want to say your farewells to her?"  
  
He shook his head, tears falling down his face. "I-I don't w-want her to go."  
  
"It is her time. If you try to delay her fate, you both will only end up more hurt." And with that Jack placed his hand on top of Death's. He didn't want to hurt his sister.  
  
Jack felt his fallen staff reach into his free hand so he gripped onto it tightly. Death held his hand and pulled him up. Together they made their way back to Emma's home.  
  
"Jack, where were you? You just took off suddenly. Mother was so worried about you." One of Emma's now grown children walked up to them upon their arrival with a child of their own in her hands. He could hear the sleeping breaths of the baby and wondered why he never noticed before. The more people grow older, the closer they are to death. How could he forget such an important detail? He was so distracted with having fun with his sister and her family that it never crossed his mind.  
  
“Sorry about that.” He tried to calm his voice so as to not gain unwanted attention for his miserable state. Death took the lead inside the house with Jack being pulled behind him and that was the only time anyone noticed that there was someone else there.  
  
“Jack...”  
  
“Yes, Emma?”  
  
She reached up to grab his face and pull him down, giving him a kiss on the forehead. ”Thank you.”  
  
“I-I should be s-saying that.” He stammered out in a shaky voice.  
  
“Watch over them for me, okay?” She requested and took ahold of his hands, squeezing them lightly in a comforting way.  
  
“Y-Yeah, I will.” He squeezed her hands back.  
  
Death leaned their hand on his arm. “It’s time.”  
  
His eyes widened at that. He didn’t want her to leave, but he didn’t want to hurt her either. So Jack put on the biggest smile he could muster to counter the tears that finally released from his eyes. “Sweet dreams.”  
  
He couldn’t see her face, but he knew that on her dying breath she had returned his smile. So warm and full of life, so hopeful and sweet. He was so happy to have her as his little sister.  
  
“You’ll meet again.” Was the monsters final words to Jack before leaving. Then the snow began to fall and it never stopped, not for days nor weeks but months later.  
  


* * *

  
The name of Jack Frost was spread among the children and adults of his now dead sisters family line with the message of “don’t tell anyone about him.” He laughed at that, assuming they still seen him as some divine being when in reality he was just some kid with ice powers that couldn’t die.  
  
It wasn’t until one generation of children spread it to their friends and they seen him too. Jack was surprised by this turn of events but was quickly knocked out of his thoughts when his name kept spreading all over the place and all these new children wanted to play with him. So he gave them all the greatest snow days he could muster.  
  
As the years went on, his name stopped spreading around and he slowly turned into a myth. He always visited the ones who could see him as they asked for snow days or to be listened to or requested death by his hands. He never refused their wishes, especially the ones who sought out death, because they were hurt far too badly and could no longer be healed.  
  
When he met with those specific children and did as they asked, he always met with Death not too long after. Jack stopped calling them a monster eventually and Death always thanked him for helping them with their work. Both of them would never admit to becoming close friends from their meetings, no matter how obvious it was from their joyous laughter and smiles.  
  
Death was one of the few spirits he met throughout the years since he tended to avoid other spirits in fear of them disarming him the way Death once had so long ago. He eventually got over that fear when he attempted to break into Santa’s workshop and fought with the yetis there. Other spirits he bumped into, messed with their jobs by accident or listened to from a distance.  
  
After everything, he would always come back home to Burgess. His sisters family no longer seen him the way they used to, but he still visited them everyday to check up on what was going on with them or to start snowball fights. His old favorites died in front of his eyes while new ones were brought into the world and he would watch over all of them. He made a promise to the first one that seen him after all.  
  
300 long years passed by when he finally met the guardians, the spirits who watched over the children of the world. He did that too but wasn’t known for his efforts which he didn’t mind at all. The moon had told them that he was to be a guardian and protect the children, as well as stop a great evil that was threatening the children: Pitch Black. So they did and Jack got two of his family members to see him again, along with getting new friends.  
  
It took awhile, but his new friends all figured out he was blind. They all tried to protect him after they learned it, which he didn’t like one bit. He survived 300 years being blind, it wasn’t something new to him. Yes, he would sometimes mess up, but that was okay because he always got to where he wanted to go anyway. So his new friends had to learn to stop being so protective of him.  
  
The first time he went to visit his sisters grave after becoming a guardian, Bunny had followed him. Upon seeing the dead flowers Jack was holding, he took the winter spirit to get flowers that could survive his cold touch. Jack had gotten so surprised at learning there were flowers like that, much to Bunny’s amusement.  
  
Bunny must’ve told the other guardians about the grave because when he returned one day, he felt new objects there. Each one told that they were from a specific guardian and were made especially for this grave. Even though they hadn’t known who the grave was for, they still brought gifts. Jack couldn’t help but smile.  
  
Chirp chirp.  
  
“Hello, Baby Tooth.” The tiny fairy landed in the palm of his hand holding something. “Is that a gift for the one this grave belongs to?” Baby Tooth chirped hurriedly, shaking her head which moved the rest of her body.  
  
“No?” He voiced her answer. “What is it?” So Baby Tooth flew up, wrapping it around his wrist. He heard a fabric moving, but he didn’t reach to feel it until Baby Tooth chirped that she was done.  
  
“It’s a gift for me?” He questioned, which earned him excited chirps. He chuckled at her response and ran his fingers over the gift, feeling the holes and knot in the center. It was a soft ribbon. So he let his fingers roam all around it to feel the wonderful details in it, noticing they felt like snowflakes.  
  
He admired it in awe as his fingers never left the beautiful gift. His friend took the time to make him something and worked so very hard on it. “Thank you.”  
  
Baby Tooth nuzzled his cheek, chirping in response. ‘I should be saying that.’


End file.
